Need someone to do it if you know anyone that does it and doesn't charge an arm and a leg.

2ndly, was deciding wether to buy long stringers that can be cut to desired length for different places on the roof or how to get the clean uniform look with 25ft stringers from the store.

Any/all info helpful. If you want to install and get paid I am looking for that too, just not at Ecozapp prices.

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Well then.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind actually doing it myself, so with your helpful comment tell me this.

If you have a bunch of peaks that start at different spots, but want that clean look of lights only at the roofline do you: just leave bulbs out on the areas that you have to run to another peak (and fill with something) or what? Never done it, but very appreciative of your helpful comment.

Secondly, I am not keen on heights.

using c9

Get a spool of C-9 sockets where you have to screw in each individual light bulb. With a little skill you can pop off unwanted lights that would be left hanging. You can buy them on that website above or many others. if your going to put in a good amount of time, buy better products that will last longer. Also big box store lights have about a 50 foot limitation per strand. We buy the good stuff and with LEDS we can go hundreds of feet.


If you want that awesome light job and are scared of heights we can do that as well. Cost is about an arm and a leg to have us do a perfect job, however the cost of buying the stuff we use and just having us do it is not a huge difference. Especially after you calculate the amount of labor.

Ecozapp did two houses (that I saw) in my neighborhood. Looks great!

^^^ Ditto. EZ did mine last year and it was well worth the money. I don't have the time or the patience to do lights anymore, so it's win-win for me. Keeps, the Mrs happy, and I don't have to do it.

So, what is the value of an arm and a leg these days? Seriously, what kind of $ range do these services run?

Our pest company doesn't offer Christmas light service - but it's something the S.O. and I wanted to try.

We looked for a company that specializes in exterior lighting (we don't really like the idea of plumbers doing pest work, pest techs cutting lawns, etc.). One company was really expensive at $4k+. Then we decided to get a couple of quotes from the other pest guys here and both quotes were just shy of $3k - also tried to up sell on pest stuff.

In the end we decided we are still spry enough to do it ourselves.

All these quotes were more or less basic roof outlining with a few trees. One did include a wreath.

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Our pest company doesn't offer Christmas light service - but it's something the S.O. and I wanted to try.

We looked for a company that specializes in exterior lighting (we don't really like the idea of plumbers doing pest work, pest techs cutting lawns, etc.). One company was really expensive at $4k+. Then we decided to get a couple of quotes from the other pest guys here and both quotes were just shy of $3k - also tried to up sell on pest stuff.

In the end we decided we are still spry enough to do it ourselves.

All these quotes were more or less basic roof outlining with a few trees. One did include a wreath.

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Dang, $3k-$4k??? I was pissed at my wife for dropping $750 on hiring someone to outline our house. Maybe she got a good deal. I refuse to put up lights before December. Wife wanted them up for thanksgiving since in-laws are coming in. I told her she could hire someone to do them.

Unmade bed, who did your house? Our neighbors got an Eco zap estimate for over $5K

comfortag--
Most roof lines from fence to fence for us range between $500-$850. It just depends on how many lights and degree of difficulty/ time. Our jobs over $2,000 usually involve the roof line, roof ridges, and some ground lightening. See Castlegate II at night and you can see a handful of our PA-DOW jobs.

Also we use mainly C-9 LEDs which are a lot more expensive and last about 10 years while using very little power.

Installing lights perfectly takes ALOT of time from when we get them shipped, installed, taken down, stored etc.. Including paying for the actual lights, labor, gas, insurance, workers comp, clips, timers, more insurance, and the fine people at Texags for banners . I've actually been yelled at 3 times this week on the phone with someone I've never spoken with because we wouldn't come hang someone else's lights from home depot for a hundred dollars.

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Unmade bed, who did your house? Our neighbors got an Eco zap estimate for over $5K

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I think it was EcoZap. I was out of the decision making process, but I think whoever it was sent us a coupon or something and that's who she called. They just outlined the roof line with commercial grade lights. I think it looks good. Not sure it was worth $750, but I'm not wasting a college football weekend hanging up Christmas lights so we we had pay someone to do it. I understand the labor cost, done it it's with my own cheapo sag.gy half ass lights the past 3 years and it's about a 3 hour job up and down the ladder, etc.

I do think the lights are ours to keep, or they will store them and put them up next year for discounted price.

I don't think you can tell customers it's expensive partly because you have to pay Texags for banners, though...

ecoZapp

Ecozapp is good, super quality. The markup definitely isn't as much as I thought it was at sticker shot first glance and pricing everything myself. However, I bought my own c9 stringers an am gonna give it a go. Let's pray it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg anyway by falling from such heights

Oh crap!!!

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Ecozapp is good, super quality. The markup definitely isn't as much as I thought it was at sticker shot first glance and pricing everything myself. However, I bought my own c9 stringers an am gonna give it a go. Let's pray it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg anyway by falling from such heights

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I will never let my wife know, but I'm actually glad we had someone else handle the lights on the house this year. I'm quite literally getting too old for that ****. Last year I tried to save time by actually getting on roof and doing the edges. As it turns out, my roof is absurdly steep and I slipped, roof rashed the **** out of elbow and knee and would have gone over the edge and into flower bed had I not caught my foot in the gutter (ripping it away from the roof in the process) - almost went full Clark Griswold. I was picking fiberglass out of my elbow until Christmas day, and wasted another 2 hours doing gutter repair.

I think I'm done roofing it for good. I'll still do the easy stuff on the ground like lining the driveway etc, but I'm not getting my ass back on that roof. My ankles just aren't as strong as they used to be and instead of 160lbs, I'm now asking them to support 220 at sharp angles. Just a disaster waiting to happen.

If you pay a lot up front in the beginning, about how much is it to have them come back out every year to reinstall?

you are paying mostly labor, so not much of a break next year.

I hope you have access to good pain meds RXAggie!

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If you pay a lot up front in the beginning, about how much is it to have them come back out every year to reinstall?

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Don't quote them on this, but I think my wife told me that we paid $750 this year, and it would be $500 next year, including storage costs. As far as I know she didn't get any kind of "contract" or anything so who knows.

We pretty much do a standard re-install of 50% of the initial installation. So whatever you pay the first year it'll be 50% the next year, and the year after, and the year after etc. This includes all new clips, all maintenance, take-down, storage, any replacements etc. After year 3 we'll throw in new sockets (due to less service trips and maintenance) we like to keep people happy and their lights working. The bigger jobs in the $5k range get several thousands of dollars in materials along with many many man hours.

Quality Christmas lights are expensive, if you price LED's on one of many good websites you will end up paying about $3 + per foot for materials. Most our jobs fall between $4-5 a foot with LEDs.

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GTXM

ABC employs only licensed specialists in each particular field of work. We don't put plumbers to work as pest technicians, and our pest techs do not cut grass. Our pest specialists are licensed applicators, our plumbers are licensed plumbers, our tree expert is a certified arborist, and our irrigation specialist is a licensed irrigator.

ABC was the company that started custom Christmas lights over 10 years ago. Our holiday light crews are trained in design and installation of the lights. These guys are busy throughout the warmer times of the year designing and installing outdoor landscape, providing lawn maintenance, and soil enrichment. We keep our pest guys busy year round doing pest work and our plumbers, electricians, and HVAC guys are busy with their specific field of work year round. Holiday light installation is a perfect fit for our landscape crews since plants, trees, and landscape supplies are not available in the winter months.

At ABC, all of our employees have passed a thorough background check and we are insured to work on your property. We use the highest quality of lights available and our lights are custom built to fit perfectly on your house.

Some customers will request a proposal for lights covering the entire house, driveway, columns, and the fence. As ecozap can confirm, the price for something like that can be several thousand of dollars. We don't like to shock someone on prices, but it can add up when you want that many feet of lights. I recommend that you start with a reasonable amount of lights and each year as you have them reinstalled, you can add more areas.

I enjoy the satisfaction of completing a task myself and take pride in maintaining my home. I know that most homeowners get some satisfaction by projects like installing Christmas lights on their own home. The problem is that the lights available at box stores are nothing like the lights you get from a professional installer. If you want each light perfectly lined up and standing straight, no extra lights at the end of a roof line, no cords running across the roof, sidewalks, or hanging off the gutters, then you just can't do it yourself very easily.

At ABC, we let you have more time to spend with your family and enjoy knowing that your home is in good hands. We are here for you if you need pest service, plumbing, lawn maintenance, landscape work, or holiday lights. Our customers also enjoy the benefit that if a light bulb goes out, we come right away and make repairs.

Custom holiday lights may not be for everyone, but if you want to get lights that will last you many years, and have a full warranty with reinstallation the following years, you can't beat hiring someone to do it right.

Our estimates for lights are free, so before you buy boxes of cheap lights and clips, give ABC a call.
Thanks




Our pest company doesn't offer Christmas light service - but it's something the S.O. and I wanted to try.

We looked for a company that specializes in exterior lighting (we don't really like the idea of plumbers doing pest work, pest techs cutting lawns, etc.). One company was really expensive at $4k+. Then we decided to get a couple of quotes from the other pest guys here and both quotes were just shy of $3k - also tried to up sell on pest stuff.

In the end we decided we are still spry enough to do it ourselves.

All these quotes were more or less basic roof outlining with a few trees. One did include a wreath.

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I checked last year, and it was upwards of 5 thousand. If you have a simple, single story application, I'm sure it's more like $750.

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I checked last year, and it was upwards of 5 thousand. If you have a simple, single story application, I'm sure it's more like $750.

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Humblebrag that you have a big ass house, eh??

EcoZapp